The POVs in this chapter are Sonic and Shadow!

Enjoy!

Chapter 9

Careful Maneuvering

(Sonic's POV)

The next few days went by pretty fast as we all sort of adjusted to the whole palace thing. It was strange seeing Amy walking around all in white, her head constantly bowed, flanked by two guards.

A lot more people had invaded the top floor, so it was a little harder for us to go through the hallway to talk to one another. I half wanted to create some secret code, but that would waste time and brain cells. We just had to trust each other, which we already did anyway, so it wasn't that big a deal.

At the moment, Shadow and I were walking on the bottom floor towards the stairs.

"Ah, Sonic, just who I wanted to see." I touched Shadow's arm to stop him, but the king too his time walking towards us.

"Your Majesty, is something amiss?" I was still having some trouble getting used to Shadow talking so proper and so much. It was just so...weird.

The look Shift passed over Shadow let all three of us know that the king only wanted to talk to me, which wasn't going to happen without some careful maneuvering on my part. I'd been mulling over Cream's words from that first night and I'd reached a decision. I just wanted to finagle it on my own, and with everyone so unwilling to let me talk to him on my own, I just had to be patient and wait for my chance.

I hated being patient.

"Oh," said the king, "nothing, really. Just a...small issue. Walk with me?"

Like we even had a choice... I sent a slight nod to Shadow and he said, "Of course, Your Majesty."

"Wonderful." He led us towards the stairs briskly. "I would like to know your impression of Freesia thus far, gentlemen."

"We've been no where but the palace grounds, Your Majesty. While beautiful, they don't truly give us knowledge of the planet."

"Of course, of course." He waved a hand grandly and stopped at doors to the second floor. He opened the one that led to, what we knew, was the male half of the floor. "My office is this way, if you will. I would feel more comfortable discussing the matter at hand in private."

As we walked down the long hallway, portraits of past kings and queens gazed at us with unblinking stares. Normally pictures didn't freak me out, but walking down this hall just gave me the creeps.

The last portrait before the king stopped caught my attention because the woman's eyes were ones I had seen before. This queen was a white hedgehog, youthful and gorgeous. Her crown was askew and she was the only person I'd seen smiling in all the paintings so far. Held delicately in her lap was none other then the Piko-Piko Hammer Amy currently wielded and those shining jade eyes also now belonged to Amy.

"My late wife," Shift murmured, and I tore my gaze from the portrait to look at him. "This was painted a mere month after we married. A pity she would die four short years later."

"Leaving you with two useless females for heirs," Shadow commented.

A ghost of a smile crossed the king's face. "Quite." He opened the door and ushered us through it.

Shadow and I remained standing until the king sat and offered us chairs. I only sank into one after a quick glare from Shadow. I hadn't gotten in a decent run since getting on the stupid ship to get to Freesia, so sitting down was not in my top ten list of "Things I Wanna Do".

"Tell me," the king requested, placing his hands on his desk, "who told you that Amelia's groom is to be Sir Quarry?"

I glanced at Shadow, a bit worried. What the heck was he gonna say? "You did, Your Majesty. Just now."

Shift scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. "Come now, do not spout such rubbish. You spend quite a bit of time with Quarry."

This was true, I regretfully admit. The creep had been searching us – me – out and would stick to us – me – like a leech. I couldn't help but wonder if Shadow's vocal cords hurt since he was using them so much more than normal.

"We find him an...interesting?" He looked to me for confirmation, so I nodded. What I really wanted was to shout that he was a friggin' perv that needed to keep the hell away from me and my friends! But I nodded. "Yes," Shadow continued, "an interesting individual."

The king did not appear to be convinced, which wasn't good. "I see. And yet–" There was a knock at the door. "Who is it?"

"Princess Allison, Your Majesty," replied a male voice. I think it was the...cheetah. See, Amy and Alley both had two permanent guards. Alley had a cheetah and a polar bear, while Amy had two of the latter.

"The interruption is fine, Your Majesty," Shadow stated.

"Hmm...You may enter."

The door opened and Alley stepped inside, head bowed, guards right behind her. "Father, I apologize for any disruption."

(Shadow's POV)

Allison looked up, not appearing to be surprised by our presence. My gut twisted into nasty knots as it did each time I saw her. I had hoped such a reaction would've faded over the days, but, no, I was not nearly so lucky.

"What is it, Allison?"

"I would like to go for a walk about the nearby city, Father. Perhaps, Sonic and Shadow would like to accompany me?" Her voice was hesitant for good reason, I'm sure. With a father like Shift even I would feel nervous when asking for things.

Shift, frowning deeply, drummed his fingers on the desk. "Would you?" he queried. "After all, you said a few minutes ago that you've not been outside the palace walls."

I looked at Sonic, but he gave no notice. He appeared to be...thinking. That could prove dangerous. My eyes met the king's. "If you see no harm in it, Your Majesty, we would be glad to go."

"There is none," he said, but his eyes flashed in annoyance. "The guards will accompany you for protection."

"You would insult me?" A chill went up my spine at the quiet voice, and I noticed Alley take a small step backwards. I recognized the voice, but I had never heard it go so cold. I had never even imagined Sonic could speak like that, nor had I known his eyes could go quite so flat and emotionless.

Shift's fingers stopped their tapping. "Pardon? Insult you?"

"Protection," he spat, and a spark of anger flashed in his eyes, quickly banked. "You insinuate that I associate myself with the weak."

Just what the hell did Sonic think he was doing?! I held my breath, watching for Shift's reaction. His lips curved slowly. "Then perhaps Alley is in need of protection from you and Shadow."

Sonic chuckled, and I became aware that it was a mixture between Eggman's, Quarry's, and Shift's laugh. But there was an extra twist in there that sent more shivers running through me. Something quite that vile coming from Sonic had to have taken quite a bit of practice. What could the blue fool be planning?

"If Princess Allison was what – or whom – I was interested in, perhaps she would need your guards surrounding her. As it is, I see no reason for her to have anyone with her but Shadow for... 'protection'."

"Only Shadow?" the king inquired. "You're not going, then?"

"No." My heart began to thump almost painfully. Sonic, you bloody fool! What do you think you're doing?! "You have important matters to discuss with me, Your Majesty."

"But-" Sonic sent me a scathing look that only silenced me because I had never seen such an evil sight come from him before. To suggest that such automatic silence was out of fear would be preposterous. It was only Sonic, after all.

The king smirked. "Yes, I suppose I do. Allison, your guards are to be left behind while you are about with Shadow. Understood?"

"Yes, father."

I stood, disguising my rage with a slight bow. Sonic – the fool – would never be able to keep such a vile persona about himself. Particularly on his own!

I walked down the hall with Allison after closing the door quietly, as her guards went the opposite way. "What is your friend thinking?" she inquired. "Tails told me to get both of you out of my father's office! He never indicated that Sonic would relinquish an opportunity to run!"

I shook my head, careful not to look her way. "Damned if I know what that idiot is up to." I frowned as her words caught up to me. "He did give up a chance to run, didn't he?" That was completely unlike him. Sonic always wanted to run.

We made it to the stairs and I started up. "Perhaps Tails will let us know just what Sonic is doing..."

I started to run, lifting her into my arms to keep her from hurting herself as such a speed. I refused to register the warmth such contact brought and set her down immediately upon entering Tails's room.

He looked at us over his shoulder. "I've already pixelled you two leaving the palace."

"And Sonic?" Alley inquired. "What's he up to?"

"I'm not completely sure, but I'm having trouble believing he actually turned down the chance to run!"

"It's likely that he'll ruin our entire plan," I muttered.

Tails just sighed. "I know... Cream's going to get Knuckles and Rouge now, just in case. We'll all have to be ready to run if he messes up." He turned back to his computer and hit a few keys, bringing up a visual of Shift's office. "Thanks for putting a camera on the door, Alley."

"Oh, it wasn't any sort of trouble," she said, smiling.

Ignoring how pretty she looked when she smiled like that, I stepped closer to Tails and watched the scene unfold.

That's right, y'all!

I'm leaving it there!

lol

I know, I know

It's mean and cruel, and how dare I? blah, blah, blah...

X3

And you wanna know what the really mean part is?

I'm moving next weekend and don't know when the computer is going to be set up, so it could be several weeks before I update next

X3

Yes, yes, I know you're mad at me, but I find it rather funny

lol

Besides, you greedy people have had, like, three updated chapters this past week!

I deserve this break!

X3

Peace, love, and chicken grease!

Please review!

Byez!

P.S.

The POVs in the next chapter are those of Sonic and Tails

:3